With the housing market rebounding, industrywide appliance sales have also been growing. Sales grew in each of the past four years to $23.7 billion last year with projected growth to $24.7 billion, Euromonitor data showed.

“They should be thriving now with the upturn in the housing market,” Craig Johnson of Customer Growth Partners said in an interview. “They are still No. 1, but barely.”

Johnson said Sears has lost its market share to about 27% from 41% in the early 2000’s. In comparison, both Lowe’s and Home Depot have grown their share from less than 10% to about 22% and high teens each to be No. 2 and No. 3 in the market.

Johnson said the company’s decline in appliance share illustrates the slide in the operating results that have been witnessed at Sears, also parent of Kmart, under Chairman and CEO Eddie Lampert, whose ESL Investments owns 60% of the company. Lampert has repeatedly been criticized for not making enough investments on stores and other spending to keep the brand relevant.
“It’s a place where your father and grandfather used to shop,” Johnson said, adding the company had lost to rivals some top appliance sellers with its commission-based compensation during the economic downturn. “It’s not just appliance. (Sears) is heading downhill, and nobody is stepping on the brakes.”

Sears spokesman Chris Brathwaite said appliance is a “competitive” business and said the company is committed to continue to lead in the appliance retail category, as it’s done for “decades.”

Lampert in a letter to employees also defended the company’s strategy and called out increased sales to its Shop Your Way reward program members and gains in categories like apparel and home. However, Wall Street isn’t buying that.
“Sears remains on a dangerous downward spiral,” said Credit Suisse’s Gary Balter.

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